Excessive package interdependency

[Tyler larson]

On Wed, 2003-12-17 at 08:44, Paul Rensing wrote:
> My current "pet peeve" about Fedora right now is the excessive amount of
> unnecessary package interdependency. As specific examples:
> 
> redhat-artwork (0.88-1) requires:
> 	/usr/lib/qt-3.1
> 
> nautilus requires:
> 	gnome-vfs2-extras
> 	nautilus-cd-burner
> 
> To me, all of these are unneeded packages (for my installation, I mean).
> I maintain lots of small (old) boxes for specialized purposes and the
> few packages on them, the better (less maintenance, quick upgrades, less
> cruft). 
> 
> On these boxes, I don't run any Qt apps, yet I am forced to install qt
> to satisfy the dependency. 
> 
> Most of my boxes don't have CD burners, yet the nautilus dependency
> pulls in nautilus-cd-burner, cdrecord, and mkisofs.
> 
> Many of these boxes have no need for SMB, yet nautilus pulls in
> gnome-vfs2-extras.
> 
> I would like to see packagers (and developers) pay more attention to
> these interconnections. Packages should only "require" what is really
> needed to run; everything else should be optional.
> 
> Thanks for the good work.
> 
> 	Paul Rensing

+1

Packages should be built to incorporate other software if it exists, but
install and run happily even when all the extras aren't there. A
dependency means "it needs," not "it can use."